No Spend July

Monika told me the other day about a blog she had read about "No Spend July" and we decided we were going to do it with them! First, the blog we got it from is smallnotebook.org and if you search for "no spend July," you will come to her posts from last year.

I recently went through Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace University and then relayed everything to Josh. We won't do everything he talks about, but all of his cash envelopes, budget set-up, and ways of paying off debt we will try to follow. The first baby step is getting a $1,000 emergency fund, and that is what our "no spend July" is going towards.

We are actually starting ours July 8th because we will have a friend in town and also a quick trip to Muncie, so not spending any money that week isn't possible! We are hoping do this through the first couple days of August. Basically, all you are allowed to spend money on are your bills, gas (but limit it) and groceries (get out limited cash for the month). There will be no eating out, no dates (unless free!), no traveling, no extra activities, no shopping!

I think there are two things we are wanting to get out of this experience. The first is how to live simply. What can we truly go without? What things do we under-appreciate in our lives? What things do we do in excess?

And secondly, we are wanting to jump-start our Emergency fund! This is a great way to be able to put aside the money for something specific. My sister is saving it for a trip with her hubby for his birthday. Why not use the money for Christmas? Or maybe a trip? Or maybe you need to just put it in savings for those car tires you know you will need soon.

Want to join us? Challenge yourself! Maybe you only do it for two or three weeks, but try it. Let me know if you are because I would love to hear stories! I will try and update each week on how we are doing.

Funny Family Fact

A couple weekends ago  I was at my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary along with 150 other people! Some I'd never met and some  I hadn't seen in 10+ years. And yet all those people got to hear this story. My mother loves to tell this story and it is kind of funny. You could watch my mom talking to a guest at the party and then turn and point to Josh, Josh and Joshua.

Five years ago I married Josh I. Two years ago my sister married Josh II and currently my youngest sister is dating (very seriously) Josh III! Yep that's right, my parents could have three sons-in-law all with the same name. So of course trying to have a conversation and talk about one of the Josh's is complicated, and now there are two grandkids and we are trying to figure out how to define them.

So here is what we have...
My Josh is called "Josh" or "Uncle Josh"by all. He was the first so he gets the #1 title, he does like to make sure the others remember who was first in the family. Monika's Josh is also "Josh", Uncle J for Cadence and Josh II. And then lastly we have "Joshua" – Kristin's Josh.

I know you guys all really wanted a random fact about my family! Hope it made you smile!

New Beginnings

Well we did it. We packed up our 20' U-Haul and... it didn't all fit. We said really hard good-byes and shared tears. We left an iPhone in Muncie (accidentally) and drove 8.5 hours to Warrensburg. We pulled into "my new campus house" (as Cadence says) – a new town in a new state. New job. New beginning.

Cadence wanted to load up his bag

I am not one to embrace change, it's a quality I don't think my husband enjoys much! But this move is something I have wanted for months. I wanted to move, to change my living situation. Shoot, I even bought new bedding! I knew that if I wanted our current circumstances to change, to be more positive, to see Josh enjoy a job again, we had to move.  So when that call came I was relieved.

I would like to say that I cried the whole way to Warrensburg dwelling on all that I left behind but I didn't. I still haven't cried and I hope I don't. Now don't get me wrong I left my best friends in Muncie, I left our first home, I left the place of our first ministry. My heart breaks when I think about the conversations I am missing out on. That's all true, but still I didn't cry. Instead, what I was thinking about was how in the world I would handle an even smaller town than Muncie (though there is a Sonic here!). I thought about how our lives are going to crazy-busy again (which I'm weirdly excited about). I thought about what our next home would be like. I thought about how I hoped someday we would bring another baby into this world but instead he/she would have a Missouri birth certificate. I thought about new beginnings.

So no, I don't always like change but I do know when I need it and when to embrace it.  I know that sometimes we need to wipe the slate clean. I know that over time I will become more positive and life can be "normal" again. I know that this isn't the last time we will get thrown a curve ball in life. But for today I get a new beginning and that is exciting!